Size Of Zinc Oxide Nanostructures Research Articles

Effect of Addition of KI on the Hydrothermal Growth of ZnO Nanostructures Towards Hybrid Optoelectronic Device Applications.

We report the structural and optoelectronic properties of Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures prepared by hydrothermal method. The morphological, structural and optical properties of the grown ZnO nanostructures were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL) respectively. Upon addition of relatively small amount of KI during the in-situ hydrothermal growth the nanorods were formed, further increasing the concentration led to increased diameter of these nanorods and finally at relatively higher concentration of KI, ZnO nanosheets were formed. Later these structures were used to fabricate bi-layer ZnO/P3HT based hybrid photodiode. Subsequent hybrid photodiode measurement with ZnO nanorods and ZnO nanosheets indicated that the nanosheets exhibited improved photodiode response. Compared to the ZnO nanorod/P3HT devices, the optimized photodiode with the dense ZnO nanosheets/P3HT have shown significant increase in the rectification ratio and the photosenstivity from 3.21 to 1420 and from 5.85 to 1330 respectively. The enhanced photodiode response of bi-layered devices consisting of ZnO nanosheets indicated that optimizing the shape and size of ZnO nanostructures had a significant influence on the overall photocurrent and the observed results have been explained on the basis of reduction in the defect density with pronounced absorption in the UV region, thus leading to improved transmission of light in the visible range through these layers.

Morphology of hydrothermally synthesized ZnO nanoparticles tethered to carbon nanotubes affects electrocatalytic activity for H2O2 detection

We describe the synthesis of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles and demonstrate their attachment to multiwalled carbon tubes, resulting in a composite with a unique synergistic effect. Morphology and size of ZnO nanostructures were controlled using hydrothermal synthesis, varying the hydrothermal treatment temperature, prior to attachment to carboxylic acid functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes for sensing applications. A strong dependence of electrocatalytic activity on nanosized ZnO shape was shown. High activity for H2O2 reduction was achieved when nanocomposite precursors with a roughly semi-spherical morphology (no needle-like particles present) formed at 90°C. A 2.4-fold increase in cyclic voltammetry current accompanied by decrease in overpotential from the composites made from the nanosized, needle-like-free ZnO shapes was observed as compared to those composites produced from needle-like shaped ZnO. Electrocatalytic activity varied with pH, maximizing at pH 7.4. A stable, linear response for H2O2 concentrations was observed in the 1–20mM concentration range.

Morphology and properties of ZnO nanostructures by electrochemical deposition: effect of the substrate treatment

Zinc Oxide (ZnO) nanostructures have been grown by electrochemical deposition on the indium-tin oxide (ITO) substrates. The influences and mechanism of pre-treatment of ITO on the morphology, density and size of ZnO nanostructures have been studied. Hexagonal dumbbell-like shape of ZnO bipods have been obtained because of the absence of nucleation sites on the unetched ITO substrate. An ITO etching process in dilute HCl results in the instantaneous and high density nucleation process, which was introduced to reduce the system energy and increase the growth density of ZnO nanostructures. Therefore, well-defined hexagonal and dense ZnO nanorods array are deposited on the etched ITO surface.